I have been following One Laptop for awhile here at BUZZYEAH.
I’ve followed their drama with Intel, their reconciliation with Intel and their most current break-up with Intel (good break-up coverage on BBC and Techmeme).
One Laptop and Intel are both doing really cool things in the affordable computer space. Too bad their endeavors reek of high school in the news lately.
Plenty of my friends have been bringing up One Laptop in conversation. This is really cool and can only mean that the affordable computer space will continue to catch some legs in the next year or so.
Or will it???
I think that bringing the Internet to people in developing nations is hugely important goal. The Internet is a huge resource that gives anyone with access enormous leveraging power.
The Internet provides people with access to world news, education (of all sorts), communication, information, tools etc. Each of these would be highly valuable in the hands of someone at the bottom of the pyramid (the lowest socio-economic bracket).
That’s why One Laptop and Intel are so fervently trying to build these cheap computers like the XO and the Classmate PC.
Well, I hate to rain on this competitive, important and dramatic parade but I don’t think that developing nations are going to adopt and integrate affordable laptops into their daily lives.
The lowest socio-economic bracket is going to hop right over affordable laptops and jump straight to mobile for their Internet and “light computing” needs.
Before I go into my reasons for this statement, I want to say that I think affordable laptops will play a role in schools. However, outside of school, kids in developing nations will use mobiles to access the Internet and communicate.
The reason is that mobiles fit into the life of people in the lowest socio-economic bracket better than laptops.
I worked in India two summers ago for a microfinance institution and was able to experience firsthand the daily conditions of the lowest bracket.
For the most part, they live in areas with limited electricity and poor infrastructure (roads, sewers). They work agriculture or on the streets. They walk everywhere.
You can start to get a feel that a laptop would be a hassle to lug around in their daily life.
They need a durable, small mobile that they can fit in their pocket and pull out when they want to tap into the amazing powers of the Internet.
I mentioned above that I worked in India two summers ago. Well, while I was there I noticed an amazing amount of people toting mobiles in the cities. It seemed as if every cab driver, shop owner and street hawker owned one.
According to TelecomPaper, 8.22 million mobile Indian users were added in November 2007 bringing India’s total mobile user base to around 265 million people.
Wow. No wonder I noticed so many people with mobiles.
Through my work, I had the opportunity to travel extensively in some very rural areas of southern India. When I was able to do this I made mental notes of the kind of technology penetration these areas received.
I wasn’t surprised when I found that mobile phones hadn’t made much of a penetration into most rural areas of southern India.
The only kind of communication I ran into were pay phones at village market stands (these were ubiquitous).
Also, I didn’t see many ads or marketing efforts in the rural villages from any of the major mobile telcos. I guess they are sticking to the more urban areas.
However, I did see plenty of ads for cement companies and politicians plastered over the walls of village homes in bright, splashy paint.
In summary, people in developing nations still don’t have the money to afford $100 laptops. And, they really don’t have any use for a cumbersome laptop in their daily lives.
They do have use for an affordable, durable mobile phone with amazing Internet capabilities. That would fit right into their daily lives.
Update: OLPC has some great news involving Linux and Microsoft over on Techmeme.
